Maiduguri: Suspected Boko Haram militants killed nearly 150 people in northeastern Nigerian villages, mowing down men and children while they prayed in mosques and shooting women preparing food at home, witnesses said today.

Dozens of militants stormed three remote villages in the flashpoint Borno state yesterday, slaughtering residents and setting houses ablaze in the bloodiest day of attacks by the extremist group since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in May.